February 20, 2025 • 31 mins
Most people understand the importance of raising capital to start a business, but securing additional funding after launch can be just as crucial for reaching the next level. Jannese and Austin discuss the strategies and challenges of finding ways to raise more capital to give your business a booster where it needs it most. The hosts chat with one of Nashville’s most exciting rising stars, Kenzie Wesp, who started Trueform Fitness at an incredibly young age. Learn about her journey and how she turned an opportunity into a thriving business that continues to flourish.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Ruby.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
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(00:29):
or revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before
relying on them.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Welcome back everyone. This is Mine the Business Small Business
Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by INTWD QuickBooks
and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm Jinny's Torres.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Today we're coming to you from True Form Fitness Studio
in Nashville, Tennessee, and we're going to talk to another
incredible business owner and get the insights that we need
to maneuver through this crazy world.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm really excited about this episode, Genius, because we're going
to be talking about a specific topic that is one
of our favorites.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Is it money.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
It is money?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yes, the kind of money that you raise outside of
your traditional revenue stream to inject capital into an already
established business, and the variety of reasons why this might
be helpful.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah. I mean, when I started thinking about scaling my business,
I realized I didn't want to just have to continuously
empty out my bank account when I wanted to achieve
that next business goal. So for me, funding has come
primarily from business credit. I utilize some business credit cards.
I basically pay all my business expenses with credit cards,
and so I get a chance to not only build
(01:41):
my business credit, but also take advantage of cool rewards too,
which are built into some of these products.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I'm right there with you. I also love my business
credit cards and the different rewards that come with them.
And I think kind of going back to what Brandon
was talking about in our last episode, you know, using
a venture of sorts and seeing how that now becomes
so successful that you can then take the cash from
that the extra profits and reinvest that into this next
big idea or project you have as a small business owner.
(02:06):
And that is why I'm so excited for us to
talk with Kenzi Wesp, the owner of Trueform Fitness.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Absolutely and this conversation is going to be a great
reminder why you should be using a platform like into
It QuickBooks to cut through the clutter and simplify your
business so you can strategize acquiring more capital. But enough
about us, let's introduce our guests. Kensy wesp is a
Nashville local who has owned and operated Trueform Fitness since
twenty twenty two. After a knee injury ended her dancing career,
(02:35):
Kensey became interested in the Lagree method of low impact,
high intensity exercise. She was working at a fitness studio
and nanning on the side when an incredible opportunity came
from seemingly nowhere and she was able to buy the
studio with an investor and become the owner and operator.
Before this, Kenzie didn't know anything about running a business, and,
as she puts it, couldn't even write a check. But
(02:56):
after diving in headfirst and clearing all the initial hurdles,
she rebranded and steered True Form Fitness into such a
success that she was able to launch a second studio herself. Currently,
she runs studios in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, where clients
can study fitness via the Degree method and live true
to themselves.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Kenzie, thank you so much for joining us on this
episode of Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories. Really
excited we're hearing your studio beautiful beautiful by the way,
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for coming on in.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Let's start off with your origin story. Tell us how
you started the business.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah, so my start is so unique. I am not
going to sit here and say that I started it
from the ground up, because that's actually not how this
came to be. I was twenty one and had just
graduated college at Belmont University in Nashville, and had fallen
in love with this specific workout, more so because it
had helped me heal an injury that I had had
(03:49):
from college. It had helped me mentally physically. I was
growing so much stronger, And then I just started becoming
obsessed with it. So I became certified in the Agree
method in early twenty twenty one. Over the next six months,
while I was still a senior in college, I began
just instructing, becoming a part of a studio down the street,
and yeah, fell in love with it. One thing led
(04:11):
to another, and whenever I got certified. I then became
super super infiltrated into the community at both locations, so
that pre existing studio was in Nashville as well as
in Franklin. I'm from Franklin, Tennessee. So I started seeing
friends of friends and you know, mom friends that my
mom had had, and one thing led to another. I
got a call from the owner of that studio saying
(04:33):
that they were wanting to ultimately sell their Franklin location
and asked if I would want to, and I said no,
because I was twenty one years old, and who has
any sort of cash to be able to do that
or an understanding of even how that's supposed to happen.
And so honestly called my parents is more so of
like a haha moment. How funny is this that somebody
thought I could take over their company? And they were like, kids,
(04:54):
you could totally do that. We see a work ethic
and a drive in you that really could excel in this.
And so conversation after conversations started happening, and there had
been a moment in my family history that was going
to allow for that to be kind of like a
family buy in to this specific company, And so took
over that location and bought the business in April twenty
twenty two, had absolutely no clue what I was doing,
(05:16):
and six months later figured out a little bit more
of what I was doing, rebranded it to what you're
now sitting in in True Form, and then over a
year later, I opened up this location in the city
of Nashville, and yeah, we're on a growth path from here.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
That's incredible. Can you tell the audience about the formatting
case they're not familiar with what you guys do.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, so that's a little side journey that we're super
excited about. I know, we'll get into the specifics on
financing and everything like that. But an opportunity presented itself
for me to kind of have an out. We love
the Lagree method and we love True Form, and we
love what we're building here, but we're not able to
scale it at the level that I feel led to
grow it at. And so woke up one night and
(05:58):
had a dream and a vision to start my own method.
And so we are cultivating and creating an experience that's
going to be called the Format Fitness, which will be
heated plates on a mat, so it'll be sculpt it'll
be strength, it'll be we're calling it sweat as well
as stretch. So four different classes that will take place
in an alternate studio and the goal with that is
to grow it to more of a franchise model, more
(06:19):
of a corporate endeavor there and then keep true form
very boutique and what you're experiencing here today very cool.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I'm sweating just hearing all these different formats. Oh my goodness,
all the things.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So when I walked into your studio, I'm looking around
and it reminded me of Pilates, But Lagree is actually different.
So can you tell us a little bit about what
those differences are.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, Lagree Fitness specifically, Sebastian Lagree, the creator of the method,
took the best parts of pulates so that rehabilitative journey
that plates can take you on, as well as bodybuilding
and strength, muscular endurance and muscular strength. Took those two
aspects and created a workout that is allowing you to
resistance train, but in a way that is low impact.
(07:01):
So it's a high intensity workout meets that low impact
aspect of pilates to create what is now known as
the Megaformer similar and looks like a pilates reformer, but
is a little more unique. Got it.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Okay, so you are presented this unique opportunity to take
on a business. What are the emotions that come along
with that? Tell us kind of what your thought process was. Yeah,
take us behind the scenes of the decision.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Well, I was laughing with my husband before this because
I was like, if you would have put me in
a room and said, hey, in two years you're going
to be talking about the questions that we're about to
talk about, I would have laughed in your face because
I was the one on podcast and on the internet
being like, how do you do this? On everything?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
How to start a company?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Literally, how did you actually run a company? Because you
have it now? And was honestly just such. I mean,
I was a deer in headlights for a long time,
which has made me into the business owner that I
am today and ultimately the entrepreneur that I want to be.
The emotions there, I was so excited. I was honored
that I would have been considered. I know that the
(08:05):
people that saw something in me like actually saw something
that I didn't see in myself, because you know, no
twenty one year old is going to just naturally think
that that's an opportunity that can be presented to them.
So I was super honored, and at the same time,
I was really afraid. I was ultimately really nervous about
what was going to be perceived by the client base
that was already there. I mean, I was a college
(08:26):
student that taught them fitness classes and now I'm about
to be the owner of their studio. It was definitely
super intimidating, but I think alongside that, I also felt
really interested in how I could do the best that
I could possibly do and ultimately take it and run
with it.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, I can imagine there's sort of a pressure to
either keep it going or like exceed client's expectations because
now they're looking at you like, hey, what are you
going to do to our studio?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And we laugh. Now clients will laugh and be like, yeah, Kinzie,
we thought that this was going to be a crash
and burn, And I said, I know, I saw it
in y'all's eyes. I told you. So it's been a
cool experience to now ultimately hopefully prove to them that
I can do it.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, You've made a believer out of them. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I want to dig in a little bit further into
going from the first studio to where we are today
to you're opening a third studio as well. One, when
did you know you were ready to grow?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And then two what was the funding process around the growth?
Sometimes that means taking out a loan or getting outside
investors or you know, reinvesting profits, things like that. So
walk our listeners through how you were able to go
from the first studio now to the second one, and
now to this third one in a matter of call
it less than three years.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
The process starts right after our rebrand. I had had
the idea of wanting to get to Nashville because I
was seeing that such a large percentage of our clients
were driving from Nashville. We're in Franklin, up the road
twenty two minutes on a good day, thirty minutes with
traffic more than that these days. And I was just noticing, Okay, Wow,
if we have such a large client base it's willing
(09:59):
to drive to us, we should bring it to them.
We're only able to operate a small group of people
in each class. We only have ten machines, and so
what I was noticing was, wow, okay, we can't add
any more class times to the schedule, so we need
to open up a second location. So there was the
need before there was really the desire to want to
do it. And it took literally a year to kind
(10:20):
of the thought and the conception of the idea of
wanting a second studio before opportunities even kind of were
able to present themselves. Now, within this year, I met
my husband, and I was no longer a single, twenty
two year old. I was a little bit more appealing
to landlords when it came time for them to want
me to sign a lease. And so when I met
my husband, that was ultimately a very good opportunity for
me to kind of bring him in and show, you know,
(10:40):
I have a husband and you can trust me. I
had known that financing was going to be a conversation. Now,
I had reinvested nearly everything over the past year, and
not every small business owner does it this way, but
I personally chose to live on my means, and then,
you know, just reinvested and reinvested and reinvested because I
(11:02):
knew that I wanted to open up another location. And
so it was around that time in October that I
had to sit back and be like Okay, what is
this budget? What is this going to be? Like? Do
I want to take over a second generation space or
do I want to do a ground a ceiling build out,
because that is going to be drastically different in what
the financing looks like for that. On top of the
fact that I have to put up one hundred thousand
dollars in machines, and so I knew that machinery I
(11:23):
was going to be able to cover without any sort
of outside loan or outside source per se. So ultimately
decided to go to a bank to upfront the cost
of the build out. But as for the business itself,
we did not have to take out money, and we
reinvested what Studio Number one was able to give us.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
So you mentioned that your initial investors were your family,
So tell us about that and how that was a
benefit to you to have that influx of capital so
that you could start reinvesting from day one.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah. I am so grateful for my family, and it's
one of those things that not everybody gets that kind
of boos under them. I am so thankful to have
been able to set up a structure in which you know,
I'm no longer in debt to them, which is such
a blessing because I just value them and I value
that initial investment that they were able to give me,
and I'm so thankful to want to give it back
(12:15):
and you know, make sure that all the eyes and
teaser dotted so that as we continue growth, we're able
to do it in other ways, just because I would
never want to overuse the kindness of my family, and
so it really did give me some leverage and I'm
so so thankful for that. And then I'm also thankful
for now the experience to be able to go to
a lender and do it that way and see the
(12:37):
good and the bad and the pros and the cons
of both ventures. Now, ultimately the goal is to continue
to reinvest and keep it within ourselves. But you know,
we don't know what growth is going to look like
from this point forward. But for the format specifically, we're
able to not have to take out a secondary loan.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
That's great. Shout out to your family, Shout out, they're amazing.
So you get this cash infusion from a family, and
then you've realized to really scale and bring the business
to the next level, you have to go to a bank,
you're taking on interest. Now you're taking on you know,
this serious money. Yeah, so can you talk about the
pros and cons of each approach?
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Of course? Yeah. One thing about me and I think
this has helped me so much. I have no fear,
So fear is not something I experience now. I am
very grateful for a husband and a family that is
able to look at me and say, is this something
you really want to do? Because do you know what
interest is? And those conversations were super beneficial. I am
(13:32):
so thankful for I have the best lender, and he's
amazing and so encouraging. And I think, you know, in
all reality, being twenty four now and at the time
being twenty two and twenty three, I needed a lot
of that boost from people that I trusted and looked
up to, whether that a lender, whether that a businessman
tour to say, no, Candi, your books look great, like
your profit and law statements, those look amazing. We are
(13:55):
really proud of you, and we think that this risk
is something that you can take. And so yeah, at
those moments and making that decision, it was ultimately that
push of like, hey, you're good the interest that you're
going to be paying on. This is ultimately going to
help you grow and scale a company so that you
don't have to bring in a legitimate investor and give
up royalties or whatever you may be having to sacrifice
(14:17):
now pros and cons. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with
the lender that I have and having this be my reality,
just because it does feel a little more professional to me,
and I think it is the next step in my
career to understand the different implications of what alone is
and ultimately utilize this to again scale and grow what
(14:37):
my dreams are.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
All Right, So you mentioned that your books were good,
and so we know the importance of having your finances
in order, especially when you're approaching a bank and asking
for money. So can you talk about the strategies that
you've used with into it quick books in order to
make sure that you are organized and your numbers are
timely so that you have all the information that you
need to get the money that you need.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
At twenty one years old, I quick hired a bookkeeper
who is amazing and she loves QuickBooks. We had the
conversation of what was going to be the best route
for us when it came to organization of our finances,
and she had worked with QuickBooks and just loved it.
So we've worked with that and I, you know, personally,
from being able to see it from a bird's eye
view and able to understand and just digest the numbers,
(15:20):
we've loved it.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
So linger on a little bit further though about looking
at these books and having that bird's eye view and understanding, Okay,
how much of these profits should we reinvest as it
relates to maybe newer equipment, or you know, how much
of this do we take to expand the business.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That was one thing after every month when I sat
down and looked at it, you know, my biggest Google
question was like how can I grow this? How can
I scale this? Wire supplies this this month? So I
would say that having those really honest conversations with myself
with business mentors, that is one thing I brought in
very early that I would recommend any small business owner,
especially in the financing stage of things, is to bring
(15:55):
in someone who's done it before you and who's been
very successful. Thankfully, I've had so many people be able
to step into that with me and show me again
that bird's eye view of like Hickins it looks like
this could be leveraged more, or it looks like you
can kind of scale back on this a little bit,
and so being able to see those numbers and then
ultimately make those decisions with the help of other people
as well as with you know what, I personally had
(16:16):
peace on of like, hey, you know, I'm willing and
ready to take this risk in this area. Having those
business mentors as well as having quick books just to
organize it was super.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Helpful coming up on mind the Business small business success stories.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I think being resourceful can be How can I pull
from my own gifts and talents, you know, maybe I
do something that's a little bit smaller scale that is
more Internet based, because we're seeing that in the fitness
industry specifically that is incredible. You can make an insane
amount of money.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
We'll be right back, welcome back to Mind the Business.
Has there been a time when you guys are just
beginning to now look for that outside funding. Did you
(17:04):
go directly to this person up first or maybe did
it come with a couple nose before you got that funding?
Speaker 1 (17:10):
So the funding, our numbers kind of spoke for themselves,
so we were able to get everything that we needed. Now.
The only thing that we you know, getting into the
nitty gritty that we did have to do was my
husband and I had to put up a little bit
of a line of credit for this new lease that
we're doing on the nose. It's funny because all my
nose came before I was ever even able to go
(17:32):
to a bank. From October of twenty two to October
of twenty three, I was so excited to open up
my second studio. However, every landlord I went to was like, sorry, no,
your twenty three. They didn't have my P and L,
they didn't have my numbers, they didn't have any understanding.
And I ultimately kind of viewed that as protection because
I think if you would have taken me to a bank,
(17:52):
you would have taken me to a lender from twenty
two to twenty three, I would not have had the numbers,
nor would I've had the business plan to show. So
in that year I was able to mature and kind
of before I was told no by a bank, by
a lender, by an outside resource, Hey, this is actually
you know, I'm able to give it to you now.
So my nose came in a different form.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
It makes a lot of sense. Let's talk a little
bit more about the business plan, because I think a
lot of people listening right now are you know, sort
of in that spot where maybe they're ready for growth
and they need tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands
and business funding, and so they need a business plan.
Do you have any tips or tricks to share with
those people as to how you know you successfully crafted
your own business plan to go get so much in funding.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Two things, So obviously I would always recommend because I
do consult calls with other small business owners that are
specifically catering their careers towards fitness, and so mine's very
biased towards fitness. However, when I get these calls, I
always tell them, you know, I want you to get branding.
That's going to set you apart, you know, and branding
is more than a logo and more than a name, right,
It's what you want people to feel and experience, and
(18:51):
all of those things are going to be so important
because that is going to set you apart from everything
else that you're trying to go and get funding for now,
the second thing that I always recommend is at a
very solid competitive analysis going of every other studio around you,
whether it be you know, say you're wanting to open
up all the gree studio, Look at pilates, look at yoga,
look at cycling. What are typical membership prices? How many
(19:13):
people are they putting in a room? Okay, what's the
media and membership price? So once you're kind of able
to see what your competitors are estimated to bring in monthly,
I then always encourage Okay, well, then let's look at
what your monthly costs are going to be and your
fixed costs as well as you know what might differ
month to month, and then kind of actually give concrete numbers,
because whenever you're opening up a new concept, similar to
(19:35):
what I'm doing with the format, I don't necessarily have
numbers of myself to show. But how can I look
at my competitors or in my case, look at my
other business and be able to show a little bit
more solidarity in my business plan so that I am
taken a little bit more seriously and people are able
to see where my information, knowledge and backing is coming from.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
So it seems like leaning on people who have a
little bit more experience than you, and it's a lot though, too,
to kind of be resourceful. I think entrepreneurship is all
about resourcefulness and not just having the people to move
you in the right direction, but have that kind of
fire inside of you to want to do those things
yourself one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I think I like to live by the the idea
that the people before me were doing things because of
the people before them. So the most successful entrepreneurs that
we see today, well, they were looking at the people
ahead of them, and they were learning, and they ultimately said,
how can I make this better? That's what's been super
cool in entrepreneurship is taking the advice of the business
(20:33):
mentors ahead of me, taking it though, but then also
not limiting it to myself. My business mentor said, do
not open a brand new studio concept six months after
this concept. You should just keep going with what you're
already doing. Well, my fire back to him was, why
would I keep doing what I'm doing when I have
to put up the entire cost of a build out
for my new studio concept into machines If I wanted
(20:55):
to continue growing what I currently have, it doesn't make
sense for me financially. Now I can see how you
do understand that because you come from a different franchise
model than I do, And so it's taking what the
business mentors and the people ahead of you are doing,
but then also having your own unique flare and being
able to take it and ultimately process what is best
for you and what you at peace with for your
(21:15):
own company.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Speaking of being resourceful, so we've talked about bank loans,
We've talked about investors. Those are just two ways that
you can get capital for your business. What would you
do in the instance that you need to raise some
money and maybe those just aren't options. What advice would
you give to other entrepreneurs?
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah, honestly, great question. I just had a conversation with
a girl wanting to open up her own studio, and
she said, I have the absolute best job. I am
crushing it. I am making six figures, and I want
to quit it all and open up a studio, but
I have no money. And I said, what do you
mean you have no money? You're making six figures. Why
would you not keep this job that you have and
(21:53):
begin to invest it in ways that you're then able
to use what you just came from and invest that
into a company and start smaller. If you started smaller.
What if instead of doing an entire fitness studio, you
started with an online platform that costs you twenty nine
ninety nine dollars a month to operate an app and
get people into you that way. So I think being
resourceful can be How can I pull from my own
(22:13):
gifts and talents, you know, maybe I do something that's
a little bit smaller scale, that is more Internet based,
because we're seeing that in the fitness industry specifically that
is incredible. You can make an insane amount of money
on there. Thankfully, it's been such a cool process for
those individuals that are doing it that way. I would
say that it doesn't necessarily even have to start so big.
You don't need a brick and mortar. Maybe you start
(22:35):
smaller and use what you have in the past, or
move forward into a different model.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I always called my paycheck my angel investor when I
was doing my business on the side, because you know,
that's typically where you're going to have the most steady
cash flow, and it takes time to build up your
P and L and your business data to just get
anybody to give you money. So do not neglect the
(23:00):
power of the paycheck.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I agree I totally agree with you here, but I
think a lot of small business owners make the mistake
of one to jump head first into maybe a ton
of debt or you know, getting in over the head
on all the money they might need to start a
business with. In actuality, you can start a business with
your cell phone and maybe a couple other items around
you that allow you to begin making your first one
or two dollars, and that scales and overtime.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I agree. I put up a TikTok on like how
we took out a loan how we had to use
a private investor initially, because I get asked all the
time on social media how did you do what you do?
And I had someone respond back to my thing and
was like, hey, can do I actually operate workouts out
of my own house because I don't have the cash
to open up my own studio, but that's something I
want to do one day. And she just was encouraging
her followers as well as mine, like, hey, doesn't have
(23:41):
to look like this. It can also look much smaller
and still give you a great start to your career.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
One percent, you're obviously a very experienced entrepreneur and small
business owner, so what are your biggest dos and donts
about raising money, finding funding, things of that nature.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Amongst every business decision that I have made that looks
great on paper, I've always taken it back and been like,
is this something that I want to say yes to?
This is a big do for me. Is bringing it
to the people that love me and that serve me
and that see me on a day to day basis,
and that know what's best for me. And then I
would say that don'ts is We are so limited, especially
as entrepreneurs and as future entrepreneurs, with fear of what
(24:19):
if I don't know what to do or what if
I don't know if this is my best yes? And
the one thing I like to do is to not
limit myself. I think it's really important that you're bringing
in people that you trust when it comes to all
of these, you know, investor situations or lender situations. Thankfully,
there have been people that have come before me to
tell me, hey, this was my experience. I stepped into
this with a lender that did not have my best interest.
(24:41):
I stepped into this with an investor that I did
not ask good questions to, And those have been really
learning experiences from their bad experiences that have helped me
not make the same mistakes. I would say another huge
thing when it comes to all of this is just
making sure that we're utilizing our resources. What you are
offering here, these conversations, these are resources that entrepreneurs need
(25:02):
to listen to. And I think it's so easy as entrepreneurs.
I kind of talked about pride earlier, like you think
you have it all figured out, You think you know
exactly what to do. You think that your way is
the highway. One thing I've tried to draw myself back
to is people do it a lot of different ways,
and they do it a lot of amazing ways, and
so how can I learn from them? So using the
resources we have, whether it be podcasts, whether it be books,
(25:24):
whether it again be business mentors. But using resources is
a big do for me.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
So just to linger on this idea though, of finding
people that you trust, I think that's really important. How
did someone go about finding a mentor that they can trust?
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, first thing I would always recommend a mentor because
this is my experience, to come from someone else you trust.
I believe that if you trust somebody and they trust somebody,
It's just a long line of trust. Things that I
practically look for in a mentor or in setting people
up with mentors, because that's one of my favorite things
to do. Is not that we need to look at
(25:59):
cashcifically as success, but you know what is their company
and where did they start from and how has their
growth been. If they're going to encourage you into growth,
well you want to see what they've come from and
what they've done. So I would say personal career, personal growth,
personal experience is huge when looking for a mentor, and
then ultimately I think the charisma and the way that
(26:19):
you work with somebody. I've gone to coffee with people
that are so incredibly knowledgeable about the things that I
love and that I want to get to, but that
ultimately I didn't feel safe speaking with them. I didn't
feel like they saw me, I didn't feel like they
understood me, and those conversations I left feeling more defeated
than encouraged. And that's not something I want to do weekly.
(26:41):
And so finding somebody that you really mesh and jel
well with, it's able to encourage you, able to challenge you,
you know, able to call you out when you know
you're not doing something right, but that ultimately you work
really well with That's a great answer.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
You got to make sure the vibes are there. Yes,
what do you think is the most impactful thing that
you've done with a loan or an investment? And how
has that thing set you up for success and for
your business to thrive?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, you are sitting and we are podcasting in the
result of that risk, taking the loan and moving forward
with that avenue of funding is what has allowed us
to be in here today. We took a big risk
in the space that we did. This was gravel and
there was no HVAC, mechanical, electrical plumbing, absolutely nothing of
(27:26):
that sort. And so that risk of taking out that
loan ultimately has allowed me to live the dreams of
you know, a dream studio. It's very rare that I'm
able to say that, you know, every Pincher's board design
I had was able to come to life. And so,
you know, I credit that obviously to the risk taken,
as well as the people that were able to step
into this and help us build it as cost effectively
as possible.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I would argue that the most impactful thing you've done
is believe in yourself because it takes some guts to
do what you've done, and you have a very inspirational
story that I know so many people are going to
listen to and they're going to be like, she can
do it. I can do it too, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I think that's what's been so fun about this
is just being able to say yes, if I can
do it, I promise you can do it. He asked
me earlier. What I studied in college. I was studying
social justice and psychology, which has helped me in ways,
but I had no understanding. I didn't know how to
write a freaking check, and so it is really cool
to see what has ultimately occurred through one little yes
(28:25):
and from people trusting in me.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Kensey, thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Thank you, Denise. I had such a great time talking
with Kenzie. What was your biggest takeaway from our conversation.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
I really liked that she was very clear on her
vision and was okay not taking investor money in exchange
for ownership in the business. Now, I think some of
us can become enthralled with the idea of, you know,
the big TV shows that We pitch our businesses too
when you get your you know, million dollar deal, But
I don't think that's always the best approach, depending on
(29:03):
just where you are in your business and how ready
you are to relinquish that control. So just the fact
that there are different funding sources that exist that don't
always require that of you. I think it's important for
business owners to know, at the end of the day,
not all money is the right money for you.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Not all money is the right money for you. I
couldn't agree more. I'm going to go a tattoo with
that on my poduct one day.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
What was your biggest takeaway Austin, I think for.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Me it was Kensy's resourcefulness. A lot of small business owners,
including myself, feel as if we are starting from scratch,
and that comes with going to Google and typing in
how to start a business or how to apply for this,
or you know, how to make a business plan and
do these different things. And Kensey was talking about how
when I'm making my business plan, what are the competing
(29:48):
fitness studios around me, what are they charging for their prices,
how many machines do they have, what's the foot traffic like?
So just like thinking outside the box a little bit
into really kind of putting this puzzle together of Okay,
here's what my what competitors are doing, which should sort
of benchmark my own progress and success. How can I
now begin to trend toward that myself? And I think
just having that resourceful attitude and mentality when it comes
(30:10):
to running a small business is very, very important.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Absolutely, there's so much mindset work that you don't even
know you're signing up for when you start a small business.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, you training that nine to five for the twenty
four seven.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Well, this was a great episode and I cannot wait
for the next one. You can find me on social
media at Jokeroo podcast.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can
follow intwit QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks. To
get the tools you need to start, run and grow
your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to
podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
We also want to hear from you, so be sure
to leave us a rating and a review.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
See you next time.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
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Speaker 3 (31:02):
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Speaker 2 (31:13):
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Speaker 2 (00:07):
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(00:29):
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relying on them.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Welcome back everyone. This is Mine the Business Small Business
Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by INTWD QuickBooks
and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm Jinny's Torres.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Today we're coming to you from True Form Fitness Studio
in Nashville, Tennessee, and we're going to talk to another
incredible business owner and get the insights that we need
to maneuver through this crazy world.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm really excited about this episode, Genius, because we're going
to be talking about a specific topic that is one
of our favorites.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Is it money.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
It is money?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yes, the kind of money that you raise outside of
your traditional revenue stream to inject capital into an already
established business, and the variety of reasons why this might
be helpful.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Yeah. I mean, when I started thinking about scaling my business,
I realized I didn't want to just have to continuously
empty out my bank account when I wanted to achieve
that next business goal. So for me, funding has come
primarily from business credit. I utilize some business credit cards.
I basically pay all my business expenses with credit cards,
and so I get a chance to not only build
(01:41):
my business credit, but also take advantage of cool rewards too,
which are built into some of these products.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
I'm right there with you. I also love my business
credit cards and the different rewards that come with them.
And I think kind of going back to what Brandon
was talking about in our last episode, you know, using
a venture of sorts and seeing how that now becomes
so successful that you can then take the cash from
that the extra profits and reinvest that into this next
big idea or project you have as a small business owner.
(02:06):
And that is why I'm so excited for us to
talk with Kenzi Wesp, the owner of Trueform Fitness.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Absolutely and this conversation is going to be a great
reminder why you should be using a platform like into
It QuickBooks to cut through the clutter and simplify your
business so you can strategize acquiring more capital. But enough
about us, let's introduce our guests. Kensy wesp is a
Nashville local who has owned and operated Trueform Fitness since
twenty twenty two. After a knee injury ended her dancing career,
(02:35):
Kensey became interested in the Lagree method of low impact,
high intensity exercise. She was working at a fitness studio
and nanning on the side when an incredible opportunity came
from seemingly nowhere and she was able to buy the
studio with an investor and become the owner and operator.
Before this, Kenzie didn't know anything about running a business, and,
as she puts it, couldn't even write a check. But
(02:56):
after diving in headfirst and clearing all the initial hurdles,
she rebranded and steered True Form Fitness into such a
success that she was able to launch a second studio herself. Currently,
she runs studios in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee, where clients
can study fitness via the Degree method and live true
to themselves.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Kenzie, thank you so much for joining us on this
episode of Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories. Really
excited we're hearing your studio beautiful beautiful by the way,
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for coming on in.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Let's start off with your origin story. Tell us how
you started the business.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah, so my start is so unique. I am not
going to sit here and say that I started it
from the ground up, because that's actually not how this
came to be. I was twenty one and had just
graduated college at Belmont University in Nashville, and had fallen
in love with this specific workout, more so because it
had helped me heal an injury that I had had
(03:49):
from college. It had helped me mentally physically. I was
growing so much stronger, And then I just started becoming
obsessed with it. So I became certified in the Agree
method in early twenty twenty one. Over the next six months,
while I was still a senior in college, I began
just instructing, becoming a part of a studio down the street,
and yeah, fell in love with it. One thing led
(04:11):
to another, and whenever I got certified. I then became
super super infiltrated into the community at both locations, so
that pre existing studio was in Nashville as well as
in Franklin. I'm from Franklin, Tennessee. So I started seeing
friends of friends and you know, mom friends that my
mom had had, and one thing led to another. I
got a call from the owner of that studio saying
(04:33):
that they were wanting to ultimately sell their Franklin location
and asked if I would want to, and I said no,
because I was twenty one years old, and who has
any sort of cash to be able to do that
or an understanding of even how that's supposed to happen.
And so honestly called my parents is more so of
like a haha moment. How funny is this that somebody
thought I could take over their company? And they were like, kids,
(04:54):
you could totally do that. We see a work ethic
and a drive in you that really could excel in this.
And so conversation after conversations started happening, and there had
been a moment in my family history that was going
to allow for that to be kind of like a
family buy in to this specific company, And so took
over that location and bought the business in April twenty
twenty two, had absolutely no clue what I was doing,
(05:16):
and six months later figured out a little bit more
of what I was doing, rebranded it to what you're
now sitting in in True Form, and then over a
year later, I opened up this location in the city
of Nashville, and yeah, we're on a growth path from here.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
That's incredible. Can you tell the audience about the formatting
case they're not familiar with what you guys do.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, so that's a little side journey that we're super
excited about. I know, we'll get into the specifics on
financing and everything like that. But an opportunity presented itself
for me to kind of have an out. We love
the Lagree method and we love True Form, and we
love what we're building here, but we're not able to
scale it at the level that I feel led to
grow it at. And so woke up one night and
(05:58):
had a dream and a vision to start my own method.
And so we are cultivating and creating an experience that's
going to be called the Format Fitness, which will be
heated plates on a mat, so it'll be sculpt it'll
be strength, it'll be we're calling it sweat as well
as stretch. So four different classes that will take place
in an alternate studio and the goal with that is
to grow it to more of a franchise model, more
(06:19):
of a corporate endeavor there and then keep true form
very boutique and what you're experiencing here today very cool.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I'm sweating just hearing all these different formats. Oh my goodness,
all the things.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
So when I walked into your studio, I'm looking around
and it reminded me of Pilates, But Lagree is actually different.
So can you tell us a little bit about what
those differences are.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Yeah, Lagree Fitness specifically, Sebastian Lagree, the creator of the method,
took the best parts of pulates so that rehabilitative journey
that plates can take you on, as well as bodybuilding
and strength, muscular endurance and muscular strength. Took those two
aspects and created a workout that is allowing you to
resistance train, but in a way that is low impact.
(07:01):
So it's a high intensity workout meets that low impact
aspect of pilates to create what is now known as
the Megaformer similar and looks like a pilates reformer, but
is a little more unique. Got it.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Okay, so you are presented this unique opportunity to take
on a business. What are the emotions that come along
with that? Tell us kind of what your thought process was. Yeah,
take us behind the scenes of the decision.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Well, I was laughing with my husband before this because
I was like, if you would have put me in
a room and said, hey, in two years you're going
to be talking about the questions that we're about to
talk about, I would have laughed in your face because
I was the one on podcast and on the internet
being like, how do you do this? On everything?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
How to start a company?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Literally, how did you actually run a company? Because you
have it now? And was honestly just such. I mean,
I was a deer in headlights for a long time,
which has made me into the business owner that I
am today and ultimately the entrepreneur that I want to be.
The emotions there, I was so excited. I was honored
that I would have been considered. I know that the
(08:05):
people that saw something in me like actually saw something
that I didn't see in myself, because you know, no
twenty one year old is going to just naturally think
that that's an opportunity that can be presented to them.
So I was super honored, and at the same time,
I was really afraid. I was ultimately really nervous about
what was going to be perceived by the client base
that was already there. I mean, I was a college
(08:26):
student that taught them fitness classes and now I'm about
to be the owner of their studio. It was definitely
super intimidating, but I think alongside that, I also felt
really interested in how I could do the best that
I could possibly do and ultimately take it and run
with it.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
Yeah, I can imagine there's sort of a pressure to
either keep it going or like exceed client's expectations because
now they're looking at you like, hey, what are you
going to do to our studio?
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And we laugh. Now clients will laugh and be like, yeah, Kinzie,
we thought that this was going to be a crash
and burn, And I said, I know, I saw it
in y'all's eyes. I told you. So it's been a
cool experience to now ultimately hopefully prove to them that
I can do it.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Yeah, You've made a believer out of them. That's awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I want to dig in a little bit further into
going from the first studio to where we are today
to you're opening a third studio as well. One, when
did you know you were ready to grow?
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
And then two what was the funding process around the growth?
Sometimes that means taking out a loan or getting outside
investors or you know, reinvesting profits, things like that. So
walk our listeners through how you were able to go
from the first studio now to the second one, and
now to this third one in a matter of call
it less than three years.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
The process starts right after our rebrand. I had had
the idea of wanting to get to Nashville because I
was seeing that such a large percentage of our clients
were driving from Nashville. We're in Franklin, up the road
twenty two minutes on a good day, thirty minutes with
traffic more than that these days. And I was just noticing, Okay, Wow,
if we have such a large client base it's willing
(09:59):
to drive to us, we should bring it to them.
We're only able to operate a small group of people
in each class. We only have ten machines, and so
what I was noticing was, wow, okay, we can't add
any more class times to the schedule, so we need
to open up a second location. So there was the
need before there was really the desire to want to
do it. And it took literally a year to kind
(10:20):
of the thought and the conception of the idea of
wanting a second studio before opportunities even kind of were
able to present themselves. Now, within this year, I met
my husband, and I was no longer a single, twenty
two year old. I was a little bit more appealing
to landlords when it came time for them to want
me to sign a lease. And so when I met
my husband, that was ultimately a very good opportunity for
me to kind of bring him in and show, you know,
(10:40):
I have a husband and you can trust me. I
had known that financing was going to be a conversation. Now,
I had reinvested nearly everything over the past year, and
not every small business owner does it this way, but
I personally chose to live on my means, and then,
you know, just reinvested and reinvested and reinvested because I
(11:02):
knew that I wanted to open up another location. And
so it was around that time in October that I
had to sit back and be like Okay, what is
this budget? What is this going to be? Like? Do
I want to take over a second generation space or
do I want to do a ground a ceiling build out,
because that is going to be drastically different in what
the financing looks like for that. On top of the
fact that I have to put up one hundred thousand
dollars in machines, and so I knew that machinery I
(11:23):
was going to be able to cover without any sort
of outside loan or outside source per se. So ultimately
decided to go to a bank to upfront the cost
of the build out. But as for the business itself,
we did not have to take out money, and we
reinvested what Studio Number one was able to give us.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
It's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
So you mentioned that your initial investors were your family,
So tell us about that and how that was a
benefit to you to have that influx of capital so
that you could start reinvesting from day one.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah. I am so grateful for my family, and it's
one of those things that not everybody gets that kind
of boos under them. I am so thankful to have
been able to set up a structure in which you know,
I'm no longer in debt to them, which is such
a blessing because I just value them and I value
that initial investment that they were able to give me,
and I'm so thankful to want to give it back
(12:15):
and you know, make sure that all the eyes and
teaser dotted so that as we continue growth, we're able
to do it in other ways, just because I would
never want to overuse the kindness of my family, and
so it really did give me some leverage and I'm
so so thankful for that. And then I'm also thankful
for now the experience to be able to go to
a lender and do it that way and see the
(12:37):
good and the bad and the pros and the cons
of both ventures. Now, ultimately the goal is to continue
to reinvest and keep it within ourselves. But you know,
we don't know what growth is going to look like
from this point forward. But for the format specifically, we're
able to not have to take out a secondary loan.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
That's great. Shout out to your family, Shout out, they're amazing.
So you get this cash infusion from a family, and
then you've realized to really scale and bring the business
to the next level, you have to go to a bank,
you're taking on interest. Now you're taking on you know,
this serious money. Yeah, so can you talk about the
pros and cons of each approach?
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Of course? Yeah. One thing about me and I think
this has helped me so much. I have no fear,
So fear is not something I experience now. I am
very grateful for a husband and a family that is
able to look at me and say, is this something
you really want to do? Because do you know what
interest is? And those conversations were super beneficial. I am
(13:32):
so thankful for I have the best lender, and he's
amazing and so encouraging. And I think, you know, in
all reality, being twenty four now and at the time
being twenty two and twenty three, I needed a lot
of that boost from people that I trusted and looked
up to, whether that a lender, whether that a businessman
tour to say, no, Candi, your books look great, like
your profit and law statements, those look amazing. We are
(13:55):
really proud of you, and we think that this risk
is something that you can take. And so yeah, at
those moments and making that decision, it was ultimately that
push of like, hey, you're good the interest that you're
going to be paying on. This is ultimately going to
help you grow and scale a company so that you
don't have to bring in a legitimate investor and give
up royalties or whatever you may be having to sacrifice
(14:17):
now pros and cons. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with
the lender that I have and having this be my reality,
just because it does feel a little more professional to me,
and I think it is the next step in my
career to understand the different implications of what alone is
and ultimately utilize this to again scale and grow what
(14:37):
my dreams are.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
All Right, So you mentioned that your books were good,
and so we know the importance of having your finances
in order, especially when you're approaching a bank and asking
for money. So can you talk about the strategies that
you've used with into it quick books in order to
make sure that you are organized and your numbers are
timely so that you have all the information that you
need to get the money that you need.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
At twenty one years old, I quick hired a bookkeeper
who is amazing and she loves QuickBooks. We had the
conversation of what was going to be the best route
for us when it came to organization of our finances,
and she had worked with QuickBooks and just loved it.
So we've worked with that and I, you know, personally,
from being able to see it from a bird's eye
view and able to understand and just digest the numbers,
(15:20):
we've loved it.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
So linger on a little bit further though about looking
at these books and having that bird's eye view and understanding, Okay,
how much of these profits should we reinvest as it
relates to maybe newer equipment, or you know, how much
of this do we take to expand the business.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
That was one thing after every month when I sat
down and looked at it, you know, my biggest Google
question was like how can I grow this? How can
I scale this? Wire supplies this this month? So I
would say that having those really honest conversations with myself
with business mentors, that is one thing I brought in
very early that I would recommend any small business owner,
especially in the financing stage of things, is to bring
(15:55):
in someone who's done it before you and who's been
very successful. Thankfully, I've had so many people be able
to step into that with me and show me again
that bird's eye view of like Hickins it looks like
this could be leveraged more, or it looks like you
can kind of scale back on this a little bit,
and so being able to see those numbers and then
ultimately make those decisions with the help of other people
as well as with you know what, I personally had
(16:16):
peace on of like, hey, you know, I'm willing and
ready to take this risk in this area. Having those
business mentors as well as having quick books just to
organize it was super.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Helpful coming up on mind the Business small business success stories.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I think being resourceful can be How can I pull
from my own gifts and talents, you know, maybe I
do something that's a little bit smaller scale that is
more Internet based, because we're seeing that in the fitness
industry specifically that is incredible. You can make an insane
amount of money.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
We'll be right back, welcome back to Mind the Business.
Has there been a time when you guys are just
beginning to now look for that outside funding. Did you
(17:04):
go directly to this person up first or maybe did
it come with a couple nose before you got that funding?
Speaker 1 (17:10):
So the funding, our numbers kind of spoke for themselves,
so we were able to get everything that we needed. Now.
The only thing that we you know, getting into the
nitty gritty that we did have to do was my
husband and I had to put up a little bit
of a line of credit for this new lease that
we're doing on the nose. It's funny because all my
nose came before I was ever even able to go
(17:32):
to a bank. From October of twenty two to October
of twenty three, I was so excited to open up
my second studio. However, every landlord I went to was like, sorry, no,
your twenty three. They didn't have my P and L,
they didn't have my numbers, they didn't have any understanding.
And I ultimately kind of viewed that as protection because
I think if you would have taken me to a bank,
(17:52):
you would have taken me to a lender from twenty
two to twenty three, I would not have had the numbers,
nor would I've had the business plan to show. So
in that year I was able to mature and kind
of before I was told no by a bank, by
a lender, by an outside resource, Hey, this is actually
you know, I'm able to give it to you now.
So my nose came in a different form.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
It makes a lot of sense. Let's talk a little
bit more about the business plan, because I think a
lot of people listening right now are you know, sort
of in that spot where maybe they're ready for growth
and they need tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands
and business funding, and so they need a business plan.
Do you have any tips or tricks to share with
those people as to how you know you successfully crafted
your own business plan to go get so much in funding.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Two things, So obviously I would always recommend because I
do consult calls with other small business owners that are
specifically catering their careers towards fitness, and so mine's very
biased towards fitness. However, when I get these calls, I
always tell them, you know, I want you to get branding.
That's going to set you apart, you know, and branding
is more than a logo and more than a name, right,
It's what you want people to feel and experience, and
(18:51):
all of those things are going to be so important
because that is going to set you apart from everything
else that you're trying to go and get funding for now,
the second thing that I always recommend is at a
very solid competitive analysis going of every other studio around you,
whether it be you know, say you're wanting to open
up all the gree studio, Look at pilates, look at yoga,
look at cycling. What are typical membership prices? How many
(19:13):
people are they putting in a room? Okay, what's the
media and membership price? So once you're kind of able
to see what your competitors are estimated to bring in monthly,
I then always encourage Okay, well, then let's look at
what your monthly costs are going to be and your
fixed costs as well as you know what might differ
month to month, and then kind of actually give concrete numbers,
because whenever you're opening up a new concept, similar to
(19:35):
what I'm doing with the format, I don't necessarily have
numbers of myself to show. But how can I look
at my competitors or in my case, look at my
other business and be able to show a little bit
more solidarity in my business plan so that I am
taken a little bit more seriously and people are able
to see where my information, knowledge and backing is coming from.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
So it seems like leaning on people who have a
little bit more experience than you, and it's a lot though, too,
to kind of be resourceful. I think entrepreneurship is all
about resourcefulness and not just having the people to move
you in the right direction, but have that kind of
fire inside of you to want to do those things
yourself one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I think I like to live by the the idea
that the people before me were doing things because of
the people before them. So the most successful entrepreneurs that
we see today, well, they were looking at the people
ahead of them, and they were learning, and they ultimately said,
how can I make this better? That's what's been super
cool in entrepreneurship is taking the advice of the business
(20:33):
mentors ahead of me, taking it though, but then also
not limiting it to myself. My business mentor said, do
not open a brand new studio concept six months after
this concept. You should just keep going with what you're
already doing. Well, my fire back to him was, why
would I keep doing what I'm doing when I have
to put up the entire cost of a build out
for my new studio concept into machines If I wanted
(20:55):
to continue growing what I currently have, it doesn't make
sense for me financially. Now I can see how you
do understand that because you come from a different franchise
model than I do, And so it's taking what the
business mentors and the people ahead of you are doing,
but then also having your own unique flare and being
able to take it and ultimately process what is best
for you and what you at peace with for your
(21:15):
own company.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Speaking of being resourceful, so we've talked about bank loans,
We've talked about investors. Those are just two ways that
you can get capital for your business. What would you
do in the instance that you need to raise some
money and maybe those just aren't options. What advice would
you give to other entrepreneurs?
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah, honestly, great question. I just had a conversation with
a girl wanting to open up her own studio, and
she said, I have the absolute best job. I am
crushing it. I am making six figures, and I want
to quit it all and open up a studio, but
I have no money. And I said, what do you
mean you have no money? You're making six figures. Why
would you not keep this job that you have and
(21:53):
begin to invest it in ways that you're then able
to use what you just came from and invest that
into a company and start smaller. If you started smaller.
What if instead of doing an entire fitness studio, you
started with an online platform that costs you twenty nine
ninety nine dollars a month to operate an app and
get people into you that way. So I think being
resourceful can be How can I pull from my own
(22:13):
gifts and talents, you know, maybe I do something that's
a little bit smaller scale, that is more Internet based,
because we're seeing that in the fitness industry specifically that
is incredible. You can make an insane amount of money
on there. Thankfully, it's been such a cool process for
those individuals that are doing it that way. I would
say that it doesn't necessarily even have to start so big.
You don't need a brick and mortar. Maybe you start
(22:35):
smaller and use what you have in the past, or
move forward into a different model.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
I always called my paycheck my angel investor when I
was doing my business on the side, because you know,
that's typically where you're going to have the most steady
cash flow, and it takes time to build up your
P and L and your business data to just get
anybody to give you money. So do not neglect the
(23:00):
power of the paycheck.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I agree I totally agree with you here, but I
think a lot of small business owners make the mistake
of one to jump head first into maybe a ton
of debt or you know, getting in over the head
on all the money they might need to start a
business with. In actuality, you can start a business with
your cell phone and maybe a couple other items around
you that allow you to begin making your first one
or two dollars, and that scales and overtime.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I agree. I put up a TikTok on like how
we took out a loan how we had to use
a private investor initially, because I get asked all the
time on social media how did you do what you do?
And I had someone respond back to my thing and
was like, hey, can do I actually operate workouts out
of my own house because I don't have the cash
to open up my own studio, but that's something I
want to do one day. And she just was encouraging
her followers as well as mine, like, hey, doesn't have
(23:41):
to look like this. It can also look much smaller
and still give you a great start to your career.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
One percent, you're obviously a very experienced entrepreneur and small
business owner, so what are your biggest dos and donts
about raising money, finding funding, things of that nature.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Amongst every business decision that I have made that looks
great on paper, I've always taken it back and been like,
is this something that I want to say yes to?
This is a big do for me. Is bringing it
to the people that love me and that serve me
and that see me on a day to day basis,
and that know what's best for me. And then I
would say that don'ts is We are so limited, especially
as entrepreneurs and as future entrepreneurs, with fear of what
(24:19):
if I don't know what to do or what if
I don't know if this is my best yes? And
the one thing I like to do is to not
limit myself. I think it's really important that you're bringing
in people that you trust when it comes to all
of these, you know, investor situations or lender situations. Thankfully,
there have been people that have come before me to
tell me, hey, this was my experience. I stepped into
this with a lender that did not have my best interest.
(24:41):
I stepped into this with an investor that I did
not ask good questions to, And those have been really
learning experiences from their bad experiences that have helped me
not make the same mistakes. I would say another huge
thing when it comes to all of this is just
making sure that we're utilizing our resources. What you are
offering here, these conversations, these are resources that entrepreneurs need
(25:02):
to listen to. And I think it's so easy as entrepreneurs.
I kind of talked about pride earlier, like you think
you have it all figured out, You think you know
exactly what to do. You think that your way is
the highway. One thing I've tried to draw myself back
to is people do it a lot of different ways,
and they do it a lot of amazing ways, and
so how can I learn from them? So using the
resources we have, whether it be podcasts, whether it be books,
(25:24):
whether it again be business mentors. But using resources is
a big do for me.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
So just to linger on this idea though, of finding
people that you trust, I think that's really important. How
did someone go about finding a mentor that they can trust?
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Yeah, first thing I would always recommend a mentor because
this is my experience, to come from someone else you trust.
I believe that if you trust somebody and they trust somebody,
It's just a long line of trust. Things that I
practically look for in a mentor or in setting people
up with mentors, because that's one of my favorite things
to do. Is not that we need to look at
(25:59):
cashcifically as success, but you know what is their company
and where did they start from and how has their
growth been. If they're going to encourage you into growth,
well you want to see what they've come from and
what they've done. So I would say personal career, personal growth,
personal experience is huge when looking for a mentor, and
then ultimately I think the charisma and the way that
(26:19):
you work with somebody. I've gone to coffee with people
that are so incredibly knowledgeable about the things that I
love and that I want to get to, but that
ultimately I didn't feel safe speaking with them. I didn't
feel like they saw me, I didn't feel like they
understood me, and those conversations I left feeling more defeated
than encouraged. And that's not something I want to do weekly.
(26:41):
And so finding somebody that you really mesh and jel
well with, it's able to encourage you, able to challenge you,
you know, able to call you out when you know
you're not doing something right, but that ultimately you work
really well with That's a great answer.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
You got to make sure the vibes are there. Yes,
what do you think is the most impactful thing that
you've done with a loan or an investment? And how
has that thing set you up for success and for
your business to thrive?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, you are sitting and we are podcasting in the
result of that risk, taking the loan and moving forward
with that avenue of funding is what has allowed us
to be in here today. We took a big risk
in the space that we did. This was gravel and
there was no HVAC, mechanical, electrical plumbing, absolutely nothing of
(27:26):
that sort. And so that risk of taking out that
loan ultimately has allowed me to live the dreams of
you know, a dream studio. It's very rare that I'm
able to say that, you know, every Pincher's board design
I had was able to come to life. And so,
you know, I credit that obviously to the risk taken,
as well as the people that were able to step
into this and help us build it as cost effectively
as possible.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
I would argue that the most impactful thing you've done
is believe in yourself because it takes some guts to
do what you've done, and you have a very inspirational
story that I know so many people are going to
listen to and they're going to be like, she can
do it. I can do it too, one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
And I think that's what's been so fun about this
is just being able to say yes, if I can
do it, I promise you can do it. He asked
me earlier. What I studied in college. I was studying
social justice and psychology, which has helped me in ways,
but I had no understanding. I didn't know how to
write a freaking check, and so it is really cool
to see what has ultimately occurred through one little yes
(28:25):
and from people trusting in me.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Kensey, thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Thank you, Denise. I had such a great time talking
with Kenzie. What was your biggest takeaway from our conversation.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
I really liked that she was very clear on her
vision and was okay not taking investor money in exchange
for ownership in the business. Now, I think some of
us can become enthralled with the idea of, you know,
the big TV shows that We pitch our businesses too
when you get your you know, million dollar deal, But
I don't think that's always the best approach, depending on
(29:03):
just where you are in your business and how ready
you are to relinquish that control. So just the fact
that there are different funding sources that exist that don't
always require that of you. I think it's important for
business owners to know, at the end of the day,
not all money is the right money for you.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Not all money is the right money for you. I
couldn't agree more. I'm going to go a tattoo with
that on my poduct one day.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
What was your biggest takeaway Austin, I think for.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
Me it was Kensy's resourcefulness. A lot of small business owners,
including myself, feel as if we are starting from scratch,
and that comes with going to Google and typing in
how to start a business or how to apply for this,
or you know, how to make a business plan and
do these different things. And Kensey was talking about how
when I'm making my business plan, what are the competing
(29:48):
fitness studios around me, what are they charging for their prices,
how many machines do they have, what's the foot traffic like?
So just like thinking outside the box a little bit
into really kind of putting this puzzle together of Okay,
here's what my what competitors are doing, which should sort
of benchmark my own progress and success. How can I
now begin to trend toward that myself? And I think
just having that resourceful attitude and mentality when it comes
(30:10):
to running a small business is very, very important.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Absolutely, there's so much mindset work that you don't even
know you're signing up for when you start a small business.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, you training that nine to five for the twenty
four seven.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Well, this was a great episode and I cannot wait
for the next one. You can find me on social
media at Jokeroo podcast.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can
follow intwit QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks. To
get the tools you need to start, run and grow
your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to
podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
We also want to hear from you, so be sure
to leave us a rating and a review.
Speaker 3 (30:49):
See you next time.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Money movement services are provided by Intoit Payments, Inc. Licensed
as a money transmitter by the New York State Department
of Financial Services.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
This podcast is a production of iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio and
Into It QuickBooks. Our executive producer is Malli Sosha, Our
supervising producer is Nikiah Swinton, and our writer is Eric Leja.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Our head of Push Production is James Foster, and our
mixing engineer is Paul Vitulen's of Audiography
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